Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
After reading The Tipping Point and Blink I was very excited when I got an email from the library letting me know that it was my turn to read this newest of Gladwell’s books. This one is about outliers, an observation that is numerically distant from the rest of the data. Using examples and case studies, Gladwell argues that successful people are more than just smart. He claims that birthdate, opportunity, cultural background and ethnicity have a lot to do with what a person accomplishes in their lifetime.
A lot of what Gladwell reveals is surprising. He begins the book in a discussion of the birthdates of hockey players in the WHL (Western Hockey League) and points out that a huge majority of hockey players are born in the first half of the year. There is a completely reasonable explanation for this. Want to know what it is? Read the book.
Gladwell also goes on to introduce the 10 000 hour rule and explain why so many successful computer guru’s are born between 1953 and 1957. (My dad is a successful programmer, and guess when he was born? You got it, 1955, the year that Gladwell pinpoints is the ideal year for computer geniuses to be born in, along with Bill Gates and other famous software engineers.)
Ever wonder why Asian’s are typically so much better at math than everybody else? Gladwell has an answer for that too! He also discusses a Korean airline that had a terrible track record, and how they were able to turn that around just by looking at cultural issues.
Outliers was really interesting. I don’t think it’s as good as his previous two, but still definitely worth reading!
